1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an inkjet-receptive coating composition for efficacious inkjet printing, and, more particularly, to a synergistic composition of swellable, water-insoluble polyvinylpolypyrrolidone particles and (fumed) silica or silica gel particles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The image quality of inkjet printing has begun to approach that of silver halide photography and these advances have carried inkjet printing to the point where a further advance now depends on the quality of inkjet papers. An inkjet printed image on plain paper is generally inferior to a silver halide image on photographic paper, but it becomes difficult to distinguish between the two when the inkjet printing is performed on high-grade photo paper.
Currently, three types of glossy inkjet paper are used: cast-coated, swelling and microporous. Cast-coated paper is of limited image quality as its base paper absorbs ink. Swelling and microporous papers avoid this because they use a polyethylene (PE) coated base paper that makes the base impermeable to ink. The PE coated bases, however, do not absorb ink; hence the image quality of swelling and microporous papers depends chiefly on the mechanisms of the image receiving layers. Swelling papers consist mainly of water-soluble polymers, offering high optical density, but slow drying, disadvantageous curl and low water resistance. Printing on plastic or fabric presents even more challenges particularly with respect to achieving fast ink drying times.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide synergistic inkjet-receptive coating compositions for inkjet-substrates such as paper, plastic or fabric for efficacious inkjet printing.
A particular object of this invention is to provide synergistic coating compositions for such substrates so that the ink will dry quickly thereon.